What a fascinating undercurrent to our community of shell lovers!  I think
I need a decoder ring to decipher the initials, though.  Let me dig out my
back issues of AmConch and scan the dealer ads...
 
In light of the embarassment these obvious missends will cause, isn't this
the strongest evidence yet that the list needs to be "safed" against
autoreplies?
 
I don't think I'm going to be buying any more shells.  You know, I sat back
the other night and meditated on what my money was really doing.  I suspect
my money is ending up in the hands of local people who don't appreciate
shells or conservation, only the fast American buck it brings them.  I
really feel the commercial shell trade has far more to do with the
devastation of coral reef ecosystems than individual collectors and divers.
 Shell and shellcraft dealers pay locals to supply them in bulk with
freshly killed mollusca.  How many of these suppliers do you really think
have much interest in using enlightened collection techniques, such as
leaving rocks as we find them and not molesting breeding pairs, etc.  Do
you really think a Phillipine fisherman with six mouths to feed at home
really worries about what he does to the environment as he wields his
crowbar, ranging over the reef for whatever might bring Western cash into
his pocket?  Not only shells, but corals, fish, and a host of other things
he sells to the "shell stall" merchants.
 
By supporting dealers -- and I hate to say this because I have made friends
of many, and I don't believe any one is intentionally supporting
detrimental collection practices -- I have been contributing to the
destruction of the very creatures I admire and study.  I pay the dealer,
who pays the exporter, who pays the fisherman who finds the shells by any
means necessary.
 
I am blessed by being fully able to go out and self-collect, so my newfound
principles on paying dealers who buy wholesale are easy for me.  Many of
you may not have the luxury of being able to snorkel or scuba, or travel
widely.  For many, buying is their primary means of collection.  Does the
end justify the means, if it requires that there will be fewer and fewer
specimens left in pristine environment to be collected by future
generations?  If we can live with that upon our conscience, then so be it.
 
Personally, though -- and I have to admit the "Eyes Only" exchange just
tilted the scales a little further -- I don't think I can in good
conscience support a system which fundamentally contributes to wholescale
harvestation of a very fragile ecosystem.
 
Now, that's controversial...
 
 
 
Jenny